(Reuters) – The man charged with stabbing an airport police officer in Michigan unsuccessfully attempted to purchase a gun before the attack, which is being investigated as an act of terrorism, federal officials said on Thursday (June 22).
The suspect, Amor Ftouhi, 49, of Quebec, Canada, has been charged in federal court with violence at an international airport for stabbing Jeff Neville, an officer at the Bishop International Airport in Flint, in the neck on Wednesday (June 21).
Neville underwent surgery and is expected to recover.
“It is a good news story that we have an individual who attempted to buy a gun in the United States and was unsuccessful,” David Gelios, special agent in charge of the Detroit division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, told reporters.
Gelios declined to provide details on where Ftouhi attempted to buy the gun or what type of gun he tried to purchase.
The 12-inch, serrated knife Ftouhi used in the attack was bought in the US, he said.
Ftouhi’s attorney, Joan Morgan, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Ftouhi, originally from Tunisia and who holds dual Tunisian-Canadian citizenship, legally entered the US from Lake Champlain, New York, on June 16 before making his way to Flint, Gelios said.
Ftouhi targeted a city with an international airport, but Gelios declined to say why Flint was chosen.
Fouthi, who was not on the radar of US or Canadian authorities before the attack, was in Michigan as early as June 18, Gelios said. US and Canadian investigators are probing his travel before the attack.
